Finn Lynch lives a quiet, tranquil life in a rural village in the mountains. Her life may lack spontaneity and excitement, but at least it's peaceful. And if it's a little lonely too, then she can't complain too much - she's still happy, after all.
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Just like Finn had predicted, the sunshine doesn't last for any longer than two glorious weeks.
One day, she wakes up to muggy air and a dark grey sky. The cloud cover is heavy, so low that it almost sits upon the top of the hills. Yet despite the weight of the clouds, the air is hot and close and sticky.
Despite the lack of sun, it's still too humid to wear anything other than light summer clothes. Finn sticks to her shorts and sundresses, and even still she finds herself feeling sweaty and gross by the end of the day.
Even Regulus finally relents and gives up on wearing the puffy-sleeved shirts and formal trousers he had been so determined to cling onto. He finally sets them aside in favour of the loose dark Muggle t-shirts Finn had bought him, though he insists on wearing the dark jeans she had bought rather than the shorts.
The humid dampness outside seems to be effecting Regulus in a surprisingly negative way. The clamminess in the air stiffens his joints, and he ends up walking far slower and with less grace than usual. It's odd to see him like this when usually he walks around so imperiously.
Even in the mornings, he emerges from his bedroom in foul humour. Finn suspects he's not sleeping well.
Even the arrival of his owl post doesn't cheer him up as she'd expected.
About a week after their lake trip, Finn goes to check the post box at the bottom of the hill only to find Al's little brown owl nestled onto the perch beside it. There's a box sitting in the grass by the collection point, and she scoops it up curiously. Across the front, her name is scrawled in neat, looping script.
Finn picks it up cautiously, half afraid it's going to blow up in her face or something. It's so light that it feels empty, and she ends up carrying it back up the hill to the house with a confused frown. She's never had cause to receive a package via owl post in her life, so she assumes that Regulus had used her name rather than his own when sending away for things, on account of the whole wizarding world assuming him dead.
It's nearing eleven in the morning, but there's still no sign of Regulus. He's probably still in bed, and Finn isn't bothered to go and knock on his door so she ends up leaving the box on the kitchen table.
With nothing better to do, she goes about gathering fruit to prepare a fruit salad. She's due to go for another grocery shop, so she uses all the fruit that's beginning to turn overripe. By the time the fruit is chopped and collected in a large glass bowl, Finn starts to hear shuffling coming from down the hall.
She's pouring some leftover yogurt over the chopped fruit when Regulus finally enters the kitchen behind her.
"Hey," She calls over her shoulder. "There's a package on the table for you. Do you want some fruit?"
Regulus looks terrible. He's paler than usual, with dark circles smudged under his eyes and a sort of gauntness to his cheeks. His hair is still wavy, but the curls hang lankly to his shoulders — it's tangled, and sticks out in all directions. He's clearly just woken up, and his eyelids are still at half-mast as he trudges into the kitchen.
